A lawsuit filed last month is trying to stop Nevada voters from ever getting a say on protecting girls’ sports.
Governor Joe Lombardo announced in January that he would lead a ballot initiative called “Protect Girls’ Sports.”
The initiative would amend Nevada’s constitution to require that school sports — from middle school through college — be based on a student’s sex at birth. No more biological males competing in girls’ or women’s sports.
The governor put it plainly.
“We are taking thoughtful steps to ensure girls’ sports are fair and athletes are safe,” he said.
The Lawsuit
That initiative is now under legal attack. On January 29, Sue Burtch, the executive director of the Nevada chapter of the National Organization for Women, filed a complaint in court.
She claims the ballot initiative’s description is:
“deceptive, misleading, and fails to explain the ramifications of the proposed amendment.”
In plain English? They want the court to kill the petition before it ever reaches Nevada voters.
The complaint goes further. It argues that injuries to female athletes — or unfair wins by transgender athletes — aren’t a big enough problem to justify changing the state constitution.
Their court filing even says that the initiative’s backers:
“cannot point even to a single current instance of a school athlete competing against the terms of the proposed Petition.”
A hearing on the case is set for February 20 in Carson City’s First Judicial District Court. Lombardo sees the lawsuit for what it is.
“This initiative is about fairness and safety in girls’ sports, nothing more,” he said in a statement.
“These efforts are simply an attempt to delay the signature gathering process.”
Why This Matters
For conservatives, this is a case of voters being denied the right to decide. Nevada’s Democrat-controlled legislature has repeatedly blocked bills on this issue. So Lombardo went directly to the people. That’s how ballot initiatives are supposed to work; by bypassing a gridlocked legislature and letting the voters speak.
And Nevada voters have spoken before. They overwhelmingly passed a voter ID initiative in 2024. The same Protect Girls’ Sports PAC team that’s behind this effort helped drive that win.
To get this initiative on the November 2026 ballot, the PAC needs nearly 149,000 valid signatures, which is 10 percent of the votes cast in the last general election. If passed by voters in 2026, it would need to be approved again in 2028 before becoming part of the Nevada Constitution.
The Landscape
The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, which oversees more than 120 high schools statewide, already changed its policy last April to require athletes compete based on their birth certificate sex. The NCAA made a similar move.
So the policy direction is clear. What this initiative would do is lock those protections into the state constitution, making them harder for future administrations or courts to overturn.
The PAC’s leadership is a who’s-who of Nevada conservatives: Lombardo as honorary chair, Assemblywoman Heidi Kasama, AG candidate Adriana Guzmán Fralick, and Assembly candidate Erica Neely.
Ford’s Convenient Conversion
Attorney General Aaron Ford is the leading Democrat running for governor. And he wants voters to believe he’s on their side when it comes to girls’ sports.
“I personally do not support trans athletes competing in sports opposite their gender assigned at birth,” Ford said when asked about the Lombardo initiative.
That sounds pretty clear. But let’s look at the record.
Back in 2018, Ford wrote on X:
“To all transgender Nevadans: we see you, we hear you, and we will fight by your side. We stand with you.”
In 2023, Ford signed Nevada onto a legal brief arguing that biological boys should be allowed to “participate on their school’s girls’ sports teams.” That same year, he joined a lawsuit seeking to overturn an Arkansas law on gender-related medical procedures for minors.
So Ford spent years fighting hard for the very policies he now claims to personally oppose. And yet, despite saying he’s against transgender athletes in girls’ sports, he’s still opposing the Lombardo initiative — calling it a “political ploy.” He wants credit for agreeing with the principle while working against the only mechanism that would actually put it into law.
Nevada voters are smart enough to notice that.
What You Can Do
If you support this initiative, the most direct thing you can do is sign the petition when it comes around, and encourage others to do the same. Nearly 149,000 signatures are needed, which is a big lift. Watch for signature-gathering events in your area.
The February 20 court hearing will be a critical moment. If the court sides with the plaintiffs, the initiative could be blocked or delayed. Keep an eye on that ruling. It will tell us a lot about whether Nevada voters will get their say.
The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Nevada News & Views. This article was written with the assistance of AI. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
